


Silver and Gold

by Coolgirl526



Category: Code Lyoko, Code Lyoko Evolution, Monster High
Genre: But this is a CL fic too. Are you surprised?, Developing Friendships, Frankie's at it again with the friend making, Friendship, Gen, I do what I want, I don't know., I'm a young adult that doesn't need to follow the rating system, If I want Aelita to swear she can swear., Like Xana has no reason to hold back with these kids, Near Death Experiences, Post-Canon?, Post-Evolution, Pre-Reboot, Takes place after evoulution so post cannon if you consider that cannon., Trigger warnings placed at the top of chapters when necessary, at all., fight me, will add more tags as the story goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 04:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18307970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coolgirl526/pseuds/Coolgirl526
Summary: A factory, lying on the outskirts of Paris long forgotten to time.A computer tucked away and holding a secret.And the never-ending fight between good and evil. A normal person would've just walked away.It's a good thing they weren't normal in the least bit.





	1. Chapter 1

Footsteps echoed through the alleyways of Paris. In the moonlight, several female figures could be seen walking in the shadows.

“Frankie we shouldn’t be here!” The second figure hissed, her voice laced with a heavy Brooklyn accent. As the light illuminated her, it appeared as though she were part wolf, covered head-to-toe in thick, brown fur.

The first figure, Frankie, waved a mint-green, stitched up hand dismissively. “It’s not like we’re actually doing anything wrong,” She scoffed peeking around a corner. A pair of mismatched eyes scanned the streets. “Besides! No one is here to even see us!”

The second girl let out a low, non-threatening growl. The third figure placed a pale pink hand on the wolf-girl’s shoulder. “It’s okay Clawdeen! Like Frankie said there are no laws preventing us from walking around here in the open!” She said with a thick Transylvanian accent.

Clawdeen gave a faint smile. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up Draculaura.”

Draculaura opened her mouth to say something, only to have a shrill shriek stop her. “Cleo?!” The pink-skinned girl said in surprise.

“There was a giant _rat_ in that alleyway carrying who knows how many diseases on it!” The ex-Egyptian princess shrieked at an ear-grating level.

“All it did was _look_ at yeah mate...” Another girl said walking out.

Cleo gave her a sour look. “Well excuse me then!” Cleo sneered, “I’m sorry I don’t want to get the plague _Lagoona_!”

Lagoona rolled her eyes. “I’m starting to feel like Deuce had the right idea to stay at the hotel...”

“Do not see problem,” The third and final figure spoke. “A rat is nothing more than overgrown mouse.”

“Of _course_ Abbey’s fine with it,” Cleo mumbled.

“Hey! As fun as it is to be in some abandoned alleyway,” Clawdeen snapped crossing her arms, “can we get a move on?”

“Clawdeen’s right,” Frankie said, “Let’s get going.”

 

Frankie held a map close to her face. She turned it to the right. Then the left. Then back to the right again. “Okay, it should be just around… Here!” She said turning a corner. Right into a dead end. The girls looked at her. She chuckled nervously. “Okay… Maybe not.”

“Frankie, do you even know how to even _read_ a map?” Clawdeen asked crossing her arms.

“Uh…”

Clawdeen facepalmed. “Okay. Do you know where we even _are_?”

Frankie bit her lip.

“Frankie!”

“Are you kiddin’ me?”

“S-so we’re lost?”

Frankie’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry guys… I thought I knew where I was going…” She said looking at her feet.

Lagoon stood by Frankie. “It’s okay love,” She said placing a hand on the simulacrum’s shoulder, “any one of us could’ve made that mistake.”

Frankie gave her a soft smile. “Thanks, Lagoona.”

Clawdeen took a step towards Frankie. “So… what are we to do now? There’s no doubt we’ll not have time to get to the Petty… Petty…”

“Petit Palais” Cleo answered.

“Thanks. To the Petit Palais, and we definitely have no clue where we are!” Clawdeen finished.

Draculaura spotted a girl with dark hair dyed blond, sitting on a nearby bench. “I might have a way to find out!” She said cheerfully. She walked over to the girl, a slight bounce in her step. * “Excusez-moi?” The girl looked up. “Pourriez-vous me dire où nous sommes?”

The girl rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. “Oui, vous êtes au Brasserie Billancourt…”

“Brasserie Billancourt...” Draculaura echoed, “Uh… Où est-ce?”

“Boulogne-Billancourt…”

“Boulogne… Uh, je vous remercie-” Draculaura trailed off.

“Elizabeth.”

“Merci Elizabeth!” Draculaura shouted, walking back to her friends.

“When did you speak French?” Clawdeen asked as Draculaura rejoined the group.

“Since forever ago!” The vampire chuckled. “Anyway, we’re in Boulogne-Billancourt, one of the sections surrounding Paris.”

“Got it!” Clawdeen said pulling out her phone. She tapped away at it. “Yeah, no way we’ll get to the Petit Palais in time before closing…” She put away her phone. “So that means we either go back to the hotel or find something to do here.”

Immediately all the girls pulled out their phones.

“There's a few restaurants nearby,” Draculaura reported.

“Didn’t we eat lunch before we left the hotel?” Cleo asked flipping her hair.

“There’s a pool nearby! I wouldn’t mind going for a swim,” Lagoona pitched in.

“But none of us brought bathing suits with us and I don’t have my supplies and time to whip something up for us,” Clawdeen said.

“What about ice rink?” Abbey asked, “Has not gone skating in long time.”

“Oh! Oh! I think I found something!” Frankie said, both eyes and neck bolts lighting up.

 

Frankie stood on a concrete bridge. Before her was a giant, old factory, the shipping port wide open.

 _“This_ is your idea of having a good time?!” Cleo whined, “An abandoned factory?!”

“I know right?!” Frankie squealed. "Just look at it!"

Cleo just stared at her.

“Come on! It might be fun!” Draculaura joined in, moving to stand next to Frankie, “Imagine what might be in there!”

“Let's see…” Cleo said sarcastically, tapping her chin. “Oh yes! Broken down equipment, scrap metal, dust, _disease infected vermin_ -”

“All right Cleo we get it!” Clawdeen snapped. She turned to Frankie. “Honestly what else can we do? Everything else here we either can’t do, or we already did somewhere else. Let’s just trust Frankie on this one.”

Frankie smiled. She stepped into the factory. In front of her were several hanging ropes. “So… Who’s first?”

“Might as well,” Lagoona said. She took a running leap, latching on to one of the hanging ropes. The girls crowded around the edge of the platform. “Well? Is anyone else coming down?” Lagoona called, her voice echoing throughout the empty lower floor.

Clawdeen reached forward grabbing another rope. “You only live once right?” She said chuckling nervously. She slid down. Frankie and Draculaura followed, with Abbey going last.

Well almost last.

“Come on Cleo! Hurry up!” Clawdeen barked.

“But what if I get rope burn, or break a nail-”

“Cleo you have nail extensions.”

“But-”

“Mate, we’re on this trip _together_ ,” Lagoona shouted, “Besides everyone else is already down here. You wouldn’t want to be the one to flake out while we’re off on another adventure right?”

Cleo groaned throwing her head back. “Fine…” She nervously grabbed a rope. She slid down screaming.

“See Cleo, wasn’t so bad now was it?” Clawdeen sneered.

Cleo shot the werewolf girl a dirty look. “Let’s get this over with already…” The ex-princess growled.

“Great! So where should we go first?” Frankie asked eyes scanning the first floor.

“Your idea, you choose,” Clawdeen said.

Frankie turned around slowly. “Uh, how about there!” She said pointing to what appeared to be an old elevator. She jogged up to it, the rest of the group following reluctantly.

“Frankie there’s no way that old thing still works anymore,” Clawdeen said raising an eyebrow, “It has to be over a _century_ old-”

The elevator whirred to life.

“-Or it could still be working…”

Cleo clasped her hands of over her ears as the elevator pulled up to the floor. “Great _Ra_! Why is it so _loud?”_

“It’s an old elevator Cleo,” Draculaura said as she and the other girls stepped in, “It probably hasn’t been oiled in years!”

The girls rode in silence, everyone standing there awkwardly in the elevator. Finally, the doors reopened.

“Whoa…” Clawdeen breathed.

In the room, they had arrived at sat a large, bulky, computer. Frankie’s eyes light up along with the bolts on her neck. “Check it out!” She squealed jogging up to it. She took a seat in the connecting chair, inspecting the computer. “What do you think this is for?” She asked, not taking her eyes off the screen.

“Frankie are you sure that’s a good idea to be messing with that?” Lagoona asked walking over the simulacrum.

“I can’t really do anything if I can’t get it to turn on,” Frankie grumbled, her excitement being replaced with frustration as she tried to find a power switch.

Clawdeen looked around the room. On the right-hand side, clawing up the wall was a ladder leading to a square hole, roughly 40 feet above the floor. Following the ladder down, she could see a sealed hatch resting right at the base. She walked over and knelt down. She slid the hatch open and stuck her head in the newly opened hole. Underneath was another room, much, much larger, with a mass of tangled cords leading from what she presumed to be the supercomputer, to something she couldn’t quite make out. “Yo Frankie! There’s another floor down here!” She shouted.

Frankie turned around. “Can you see if that’s where the power supply is?” She asked.

Clawdeen nodded and started to climb down. She landed, hearing the echoes throughout the large room. She let out a long whistle. “Looks like something out of Howldon’s sci-fi shows…” She said to herself. In front of her were a trio of hollow, golden cylinders. She stepped closer to the center one. “What are these things for?” She muttered, taking a step into it.

“For mummification of course…” Cleo sneered.

Clawdeen whipped around in surprise. “When did you get here?” She asked crossing her arms.

“I followed you,” Cleo said rolling her eyes, _“Unfortunately_ , watching Frankie mess with that thing isn’t the most fun thing in the universe…”

Clawdeen rolled her eyes in annoyance. She walked back over to the hatch. “I’m not seeing any sort of power source down here!” She shouted as she climbed back up. “Nothing more than a bunch of weird pod things…” She continued as she rejoined the group.

Frankie’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t get it…” She said shaking her head, “Why is this here if there is no way to turn it on?”

“There are just some mysteries that don’t want to be solved mate,” Lagoona said. 

“What about third floor?” Abbey butted in. The four girls looked at the Yeti. “If power source not on second or first floor, then must be on third.”

Frankie’s eyes once again lit up. She bolted towards the elevator, Draculaura and Clawdeen reluctantly following close behind.

Lagoona facepalmed. “Frankie you can’t be positive there’s another floor mate,” She said stepping into the elevator, “For all we know it’s just the two floors and there really isn’t-”

 

“-a third floor…”

The elevator doors opened as the group filed into a large, mostly white room, a sharp chill in the air. A large, dark-colored platform raising just above their waists sat, taking up most of the room. A large grin spread across Frankie’s face as if she were a kid in a candy store. She walked up to the platform. The rest of the group watched as Frankie placed her hand on a lever.

“Wait… Frankie, are you sure this is a good idea?” Clawdeen asked softly as she walked up to the girl.

Frankie looked at the mainframe. “I- I don’t know why… But something is telling me to turn it on,” She said. She gripped the lever tightly. “Hope I don’t regret this later…” She muttered. In a swift movement, she threw the lever up.

The mainframe sprung to life. Golden plates lit up as a taller, thinner cylinder rose from the platform, smoke almost dripping off of it. Slowly the room began to heat up. 

Frankie threw her hands into the air. “IT WORKS!” she screamed with joy. She bolted back to the elevator, dragging Clawdeen behind her. Frankie pounded the button the second she stepped in, her neck bolts sparking dangerously. She ran out of the elevator as soon as it reached the first floor,  not even bothering to wait for doors to open fully. She vaulted over the armrests of the chair, taking a seat at the computer. She watched ecstatically as multiple programs began popping up running what appeared to be system checks. “Look at all of this!” She said grabbing the mouse and scanning through the windows, “This- this is some sort of marvel in science! I’ve never seen something so complex! Not even in Hexica’s lab!”

“Frankie…”

A large hologram popped up in the middle of the room, showing a sphere surrounded by two ‘plates’. “It looks as though there’s some sort of game here!”

“Frankie.”

“No! This can’t be some ordinary game! Its size is _way_ too big! There appears to some sort of labyrinth area, surrounded by two other areas, one some sort of mountain plain and the other a desert!” She clicked away at the keyboard. “It looks as though there are two others but… Their data looks corrupted…”

“FRANKIE!”

Frankie jumped in surprise. “Frankie…” Clawdeen said again, this time more softly, “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

“But-”

“Frankie, something about this place isn’t settling well with me. I can’t tell why but-” Clawdeen’s ears folded down, “It feels like something doesn’t want us here.”

Frankie looked at the other girls. “D-do you all feel the same?” She asked nervously. Sounds of agreement came from them. Frankie’s shoulders slumped. “Oh… Okay.” She pulled out her phone, brushing a lock of hair from her face as she checked the time. “We- we should probably go… It’s getting late and Deuce is probably waiting for us.”

Frankie got up and walked back into the elevator. She took one last look at the computer before the doors shut.

As the elevator left the floor, the screen on the supercomputer flickered. All windows closed and the screen turned black.

A red eye-like symbol flickered on the screen.

 

The door to the hotel room opened. Inside was a boy around their age and had snakes for hair sat on one of the beds flipping through channels on a television. He looked at the girls, adjusting a pair of sunglasses. “Hey! I was wondering when you all would get back!” He said with a light chuckle.

Cleo sashayed over to him. “Sorry Deucie, Frankie _dragged_ us to some abandoned factory,” She said rolling her eyes.

“An abandoned factory? I thought you guys were going to some museum?” Deuce asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cleo set her purse down on the bed Deuce was sitting on. “We were. But _someone_ -” She looked at Frankie. “-got us lost so we improvised.” She kicked off her heels. “And what did you do while we were gone?”

“Watched TV, ate dinner, called Clawd,” He said leaning back on the bed. He looked at Draculaura. “By the way, he wanted me to tell you he loves you and misses you. Like, a lot.”

“Aw! How sweet! I really wish he could’ve come with us...” Draculaura gushed.

“Oh so he’s going tell his _girlfriend_ that he misses her, but even mention his own sister? I’m so going blow up his phone about this!” Clawdeen said pulling her phone out of her bag.

“Aw come on Clawdeen!” Draculaura said walking up to the werewolf, “You know Clawd loves you too!”

Clawdeen rolled her eyes playfully. “I know that!” She said, “I’m still gonna give him a hard time! That’s what siblings do!”

“Well while you girls do that-” Cleo said standing up, “-I’m going to take a nice, long shower and head off to bed.”

“Yeah… That sounds like a good idea,” Frankie said walking to a connecting door. “Night guys!”

A chorus of ‘good nights’ followed.

 

Moonlight filtered into one of the hotel rooms. A power outlet sparked as a thick, black smoke seeped out. It slithered along the floor. It came to a bed. It slinked up the bedpost, and over the covers. There Deuce was sleeping, an eye mask covering his face and Cleo cuddled up in his arms. The smoke floated up to him and entered his nose.

 

Clawdeen dropped her make-up bag onto the bathroom counter. She opened it and pulled out an eyelash curler. In the mirror, she could see Lagoona walk-in rubbing her eyes. “Morning” Clawdeen said.

“Morin’ love,” Lagoona yawned, rubbing the crust from her eyes. She sat on the toilet, opening her own toiletries bag and pulling out a bottle of location. “Sleep well?"

Clawdeen sighed as she put away the eye-lash curler and pulled out a bottle of mascara. “Honestly?” Clawdeen asked, shaking the bottle, “Not good… That damn factory was on my mind the whole night.”

“You have nightmares too?” Abbey asked as she walked in.

Clawdeen recapped the bottle. “So you had a dream about that factory too?”

Abbey looked at her. “No, had dreams about rotten yak-cheese,” She said rolling her eyes. “Of course had bad dream about factory. Felt like-”

“Something was watching you?” Lagoona asked.

“Yeah!”

“So it’s not just me huh?” Clawdeen said, one again digging through her bag. “It was so weird!” She started, “I was back in that the room with those pods and it felt like something was after me. Something really bad. Worse then like, the Revenant, or the Kraken.”

“Same here!” Lagoona pitched in, “But I was on the bridge, and something was chasing me!”

“Had similar dream too. But in elevator. Water pouring in and couldn’t freeze it,” Abbey explained, “Was scared I was going to die…”

“That’s so weird! All three of us had similar dreams about that same factory…” Clawdeen said tapping her chin, “This can’t just be some coincidence…”

“What are you thinking mate?” Lagoona asked.

“We go back to that factory,” Clawdeen declared.

“Are you sure?” Abbey asked skeptically.

“Listen the three of us having similar dreams on the same night, at the same place,” Clawdeen said, “Something wants us there, and I want to find out what and why…”

“I’m in.”

Clawdeen looked at Lagoona in surprise. “You sure?”

“Your right about something being in that factory. I want to find out what it is too,” Lagoona said standing up.

“Count me too,” Abbey said, chest puffing in pride, placing a clawed hand on Clawdeen’s shoulder. “Am not letting bad dream keep me back.”

“Alright. Let’s get dressed and-”

“Well I see we’re up bright and early,” Cleo said stepping into the bathroom. “What’s with the secret meeting?”

“We going back to factory,” Abbey said crossing her arms.

“Why in Ra’s name are you three going back _there_?!” Cleo demanded. She jabbed Clawdeen’s chest. “And weren’t you the one who convinced us to leave in the first place?”

Clawdeen let out a low growl. “I know that! But it’s just-”

“We’ve all had weird dreams about that place,” Lagoona butted in, wedging herself between the two girls, “It can’t be a coincidence, so we’re going back to check it out. If you want you can come with.”

Cleo rolled her eyes. “As _if_!” She shouted, “I’m not going back there unless absolutely necessary!” She pushed her way to the mirror. “Instead, I’m getting myself breakfast down in the lobby cafe. If you wish to join me before your little ‘dream quest’ you may.”

“Nah, we’ll probably get something on the road,” Clawdeen said. “Meet you girls at the front doors?” She asked looking at Lagoona and Abbey.

“Sounds like a plan,” Lagoona said.

With that Clawdeen walked out of the bathroom and continued getting dressed. Once all three girls were ready, they began to make their way back to the factory.

 

 

* Translation: "Excuse me?” The girl looked up. "Could you tell me where we are?"

The girl rolled her eyes and muttered something in her breath. "Yes, you're at the Billancourt Brewery…”

"The Brewery Billancourt..."Draculaura echoed," uh... Where is it?”

"Boulogne-Billancourt…”

"Boulogne... uh, thank you - " Draculaura trailed off.

“Elizabeth.”

"Thank you, Elizabeth!"Draculaura shouted, she walking back to her friends.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Laura?”

“Yes?”

“Did Clawdeen tell you where she was going?” Frankie asked closing the connecting door.

“No… She didn’t...” Draculaura said, “Did she leave?”

Frankie nodded her head. “Lagoona and Abbey are gone too. Cleo left a note that she was going to see what the lobby cafe had for breakfast,” She said, “But, nothing from either the three of them…”

“Not even a text?”

Frankie shook her head again.

Draculaura bit her lip. “That is strange… I’ll try calling her,” she said, pulling out her bag and fishing out her phone. A large shadow fell over her. She jumped as she looked behind her seeing Deuce standing over her. “Oh! Deuce!  You frightened me!”

Deuce stared at her.

“Uh… Deuce are you alright?” Frankie asked walking over.

Deuce grabbed her shoulder and threw the girl to the ground. Frankie hit the ground dazed. He clenched his fist and raised it above his head.

Draculaura jumped in, grabbing his raised arm. “Deuce what are you doing!” She cried as he lowered his fist. He growled, swinging his fist back. Draculaura gasped, and swiftly ducked.

“Laura!” Frankie screamed as Deuce’s fist smacked into the footboard of one of the beds. She rushed to Draculaura’s aid as Deuce growled in pain.

“Deuce what is wrong with you!” Frankie shouted as she helped a shaking Draculaura up.

“D-Deuce?” Draculaura said nervously.

He lunged, fist raised once again. The girls separated, causing the Gorgon to crash right to the floor. He got back to his feet and turned around breathing heavily.

Frankie quickly introduced his face to the hotel room’s lamp.

Deuce stumbled back, putting a hand to his face. Frankie pushed past him, grabbing Draculaura’s wrist, and running out of the room.

 

Clawdeen landed, the cable she used lightly swinging back and forth. Lagoona and Abbey dropped down, standing next to the werewolf.

“Do not like it here...” Abbey growled, “Feels like someone watching...”

“Yeah… I feel the same,” Lagoona pitched in, rubbing her arm.

“Listen if you two want to go back go,” Clawdeen snapped, her fur lightly standing on end, “But _I am staying._  Something wants me here… I don’t know what or why, but I just can’t help but  _feel_ like I’m supposed to be here...” Her fur flattened. “Yeah know?”

“Hey. We’re in this together,” Lagoona said, placing a webbed hand on her shoulder, “You think I’m just going to abandoned my friend after everything you’ve done for me?” She hugged Clawdeen. “Besides!” She chuckled, “I willingly faced Kala head on! You think a little factory is goin’ scare me off so easily?”

“Says the girl who still has a crippling case of stage fright,” Clawdeen teased.

“Hey! I’m getting over it!” She retorted, “Just going about it with baby steps!”

“Sure you are,” Clawdeen said with a smirk.

“Hey!” Abbey’s voice echoed across the room. “While you two argue, I brought up elevator...” She said gesturing to the now summoned elevator.

Lagoona and Clawdeen smiled at each other. The two girls walked over and climbing in, followed by Abbey.

The gears whirled as the trio of monsters decedent down to the lower floor. “So… What are we gonna do when we get down?”

Clawdeen stayed quiet.

“So we go down without plan?” Abbey asked raising an eyebrow.

“Hey, I’m not Frankie okay?!” Clawdeen snapped. The Yeti didn’t flinch.

The elevator jerked to a halt, ending the conversation. Before the doors could open, Clawdeen’s ears perked up. “Someone’s here...” She whispered as the doors slid open. Her companions looked at each other as Clawdeen removed her platforms. The werewolf girl took soft steps as a rhythmic clicking filled the room. She approached the giant mechanical chair connected to the computer. As she approached she saw a pink haired girl (A human from the smell of her) sitting at the desktop typing away ferociously. Clawdeen took a look at the screen, seeing line upon line of complex coding flash up. “What the?” Clawdeen muttered, leaning closer to get a better look. The girl froze. Clawdeen, just realizing what she’d just done, muttered one simple phrase. “Shit...”

The human girl launched herself out of the seat and bolted to the elevator. “Stop her!” Clawdeen barked, pointing at the girl.

Abbey jumped into action, sending an ice blast at the human, freezing her legs to the metal floor. The girl immediately began trying to pull out as the three monsters moved in. The girl looked at the three of them in fear. She reached into a backpack Clawdeen hadn’t noticed earlier and pulled out a pocket knife. “Pas un pas de plus Xana!” She snarled, pointing at the knife at Lagoona’s direction.

“Whoa! Clam down Sheila!” Lagoona said putting her hands up defensively.

Clawdeen moved next to Lagoona. “None of us are this ‘Xana’ guy but we aren’t here to hurt you,” She said taking a step forward, “so please put the knife down.”

The girl lowered it. “You- y-you speak English?” She asked, her whole body shaking.

“Well. Technically her native language is Russian,” Clawdeen said pointing at Abbey, “But yes, we all speak English in some way.”

The girl looked at them. “Who are you and why are you here?” She growled.

Clawdeen looked at her friends. “I’m Clawdeen, and these-” She gestured to her friends, “-Are some of my friends, Lagoona-” She pointed at the sea monster, “-And Abbey.” She pointed to the Yeti. “And you are?”

The girl looked at them. “Aelita… Aelita Stones...” She said slowly, lowering her knife, “Now _why_ are you three here?”

Clawdeen shrugged. “Me and rest of my friends were exploring this place yesterday-”

“So _you_ were the one to turn it back on!” The girl— _Aelita-_ shouted re-raising her knife.

“Whoa! I’m guessing that was a _bad_ thing then?”

“Yes, it was a bad thing! Because of _you,_ that _monster_ is free to roam again and make my life a living hell!” She shrieked louder than a banshee.

The three girls winced at the girl’s harsh tone. “What are you talking about?” Lagoona asked.

Aelita sighed. “Let me free and I’ll explain...” She said softly.

Clawdeen looked at the human. “Get rid of the knife and we’ll free you...” She said, fur standing on end.

Aelita looked at them for a moment. She sighed, tossing the knife to the other side of the room. Pleased, Clawdeen looked at Abbey. The yeti moved forward, cracking open the ice with her bare claws and freeing the girl.

Aelita sighed and took a seat back at the computer chair. “Alright… This computer isn’t just any normal computer-”

“Ya, don’t say...” Clawdeen sneered

Aelita sent her a deadly glare. “It holds one of our- _my_ greatest secrets… And its name is Lyoko…”

 

“Come on Clawdeen! Why won’t you pick up?!” Draculaura shouted as she fumbled with her phone. 

“Forget it!” Frankie shouted as they ran through the corridor, “We need to get out of here before he-” She was cut off as she ran smack into someone, sending her to the floor.

“Frankie!” Draculaura shouted, screeching to a stop.

“What in Ra’s name- Frankie?!” Cleo, who was now sprawled out on the floor, shouted. “What the- Why on _earth_ are you two _running_ in a hotel?” She demanded, helping Frankie off of the floor.

“Deuce lost it!” Draculaura shouted, “He just tried to _kill_ us!”

Cleo looked at the two. “No- No! That’s _not_ Deuce! He wouldn’t hurt _anyone_ let alone try to commit _murder!_ ” Cleo defended.

“Better believe it!” Frankie shot back. She sighed. “Listen, do you know where Clawdeen, Lagoona, and Abbey are?” Frankie asked.

“No, I don’t… Last time I saw them they were rushing back to that _infested_ factory you _dragged_ us too yesterday!” Cleo said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Then we’ll check there first. Come on Cleo-”

“Oh no! No _absolute_ way in the name of Ra, Nut, Isis, and any other god watching over us  _am I going back to that disease ridden shell!”_ Cleo screamed.

“Uh… Girls?” Draculaura muttered softly.  
“Cleo we _have_ to go back there! We need the others if we have any chance of standing up against Deuce-”

“Girls!” Draculaura said louder.

“ _Excuse me?!_ We don’t _need_ them to do _anything_ ! Deuce is one of the kindest people you will _ever_ meet and I refuse to believe that-”

A loud sickening crack echoed throughout the hallway.

“Deuce?” Cleo whispered seeing the gorgon boy appearing out of nowhere. He stood over Frankie who was back on the ground screaming in pain as she grabbed her shoulder.

“FRANKIE!” Draculaura screamed.

The world went in slow motion around Cleo. Draculaura snapped, rushing up to Deuce, fangs bared. Deuce reacted quickly, however, grabbing the black-haired monster and slamming her into the wall, crashing her right into a picture frame and shattering the glass. Draculaura slid to the ground, the broken glass leaving small puncture wounds in her face.

“Draculaura!” Frankie shrieked trying to stand up. Deuce swiftly kicked her back down.

“DEUCE GORGON!”

The boy looked up to see Cleo standing in front of him, _seething_ with rage. “I have _no_ idea what has gotten into you but this behavior towards my _friends_ will not be tolerated any further!” She shouted, stomping over to him.

“Cleo stop!” Frankie begged, watching the mummy march straight up to Deuce.

The boy swung his fist back, aiming to hit her in the face. With all of his might, he threw the punch.

A loud cracking sound was heard.

Cleo stood there, digging her press-on nails into the boy’s clenched fist. She stared at the caught punch for a moment, before slowly looking back at Deuce’s face. She took a deep breath. “Deuce Gorgon…” She said eerily calmly. “Not _only_ did you attack my friends… But you also try and attack _me…_ ” She growled. She curled her free hand into a tight fist.

Deuce was on the floor, clutching his bleeding nose.

“Deuce Gorgon!” Cleo shouted, using a voice neither of her friends had heard before, “We are _through..._ ”

Frankie watched as Cleo helped Draculaura to her feet, before moving to help her up.

“Let’s go...” Cleo said turning and walking towards the elevator. The other two girls followed hesitantly.

“Are you two girls okay?” Cleo asked as they waited for the elevator.

“Other then a few cuts and my head is throbbing… I’m alright,” Draculaura said softly.

“I think my shoulder’s broken...” Frankie said, gripping said injured shoulder.

Cleo touched it. “It feels likes it’s dislocated… Laura? Be a dear and hold Frankie still for me please,” Cleo asked, well, _commanded._

Draculaura nodded, grabbing Frankie’s other shoulder.

“Now Frankie… This is going to hurt for a bit, but you can’t fight alright?”

“What do you mean by hurt-”

Just as the elevator arrived, Frankie Stein let out a blood-curdling scream.

 

“Does it still hurt?” Draculaura asked, gingerly touching Frankie’s non-injured shoulder.

Frankie shifted her arm awkwardly in the makeshift sling. “Kind of yeah...” She muttered. “Cleo? Where did you- Cleo?”

The mummy girl kept her eyes super-glued to the floor, hugged herself tightly.

“Cleo?”

“How could he do something like that...” She muttered softly.

“Oh, Cleo...” Frankie cooed, wrapping her good arm around Cleo’s shoulders, “It’s going to be okay...”

Fat, wet tears spilled down Cleo’s cheeks. “He’s _never_ acted out like this!” She sobbed, burying her face into Frankie’s chest.

“It’s okay-”

“No! No it’s not!” She cried, “I can’t believe he could _do_ something so- so-”

“Horrible?” Draculaura suggested.

“ _Monstrous!”_ Cleo sobbed harder, her mascara and eyeliner joining the flood of tears.

“It’s okay,” Frankie said, stroking Cleo’s hair, “When we find Clawdeen and the others, we can call up your father and explain to him-”

“No!” Cleo shouted pushing Frankie away. “Anyone _but_ my father! If he hears about what happened, I’ll _never_ hear the end of it! How he was right not to trust him, or how I should’ve seen it coming-” More tears began to spill.

Draculaura placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can call my father. After we get the others, we can get our things and leave… Does that sound good?”

Cleo nodded slowly.

The elevator doors opened, revealing the hotel lobby. Ignoring any stares from the patrons, the three ghouls walked out of the door in silence.

 

“So what your telling me is-” Clawdeen said as she, Lagoona, Abbey, and the human girl stood in together, “-that this computer holds a virtual _world_ call Ryoto-”

“ _Lyoko_ ”

“ _Lyoko_ , and that people can go to using those pods-

“The scanners.”

“-the _scanners_ . And in Lyoko is this evil Virus named Xana out to destroy the world, and only _you_ can stop it...” Clawdeen finished.

“Kind of…” Aelita said.

“What mean by ‘kind of?’” Abbey asked crossing her arms.

“This is Xana’s doing, but...” Aelita hesitated, “It’s not working alone...”

“So not only is this Xana guy we’ve got to worry about, but someone might be helping it...” Clawdeen let out a long sigh. “Great...”

“Xana has a tower activated right now… It could be doing anything as we speak,” Aelita said looking at the computer.

“So? You can stop it right?” Lagoona asked.

“I can...” Aelita said, “But not without someone to protect me.” She looked at the girls. “Xana has monsters he sends to try and stop me from ending his attacks. If I get devirtualised, I have to wait another 12 hours before I can go back. And in that time...”

“Then turn it off.”

“What?!” Aelita said looking at Clawdeen.

“If this thing is so dangerous, then _turn it off_ ,” Clawdeen repeated. “If the computer isn’t on Xana can’t do anything! It’s simple-”

“NO!” Aelita shouted, “I am _not_ turning it off!”

“But it’s the easiest way to avoid this entire thing! No computer, no evil virus, simple as that!”

“Y-you don’t understand! I _can’t_ turn it off!”

“And why not?”

“Because- Because-”

“Hey!” Lagoona shouted, silencing the argument. She held up her phone to show an incoming call. “It’s Frankie...”

The group when silent as Lagoona put the phone to her ear. “Frankie? What’s going- What do you _mean_ Deuce has lost it?” The other girls listened intently. “He _what?_ A-are you three okay?”

“Yo, what’s going on?” Clawdeen asked.

Lagoona put her hand over her phone. “Deuce attacked them...” She said softly.

“Are you serious?!” Clawdeen said in shock.

“Is not in Deuce’s nature to harm friends,” Abbey growled.

Lagoona turned back towards her phone. “Yeah… We’re in the factory now… That room with the computer… Yeah, we’re fine… Hey is Cleo _crying_ ? Are you serious!? Alright… We’ll see you in a bit...” Lagoona hung up.

“Well?” Clawdeen asked.

“Deuce attacked Frankie and Draculaura back in the hotel room. He dislocated Frankie’s shoulder, and slammed Draculaura into the wall...” Lagoona relaid.

“Holy sh- Are they okay?!”

“Yeah… Nothing too serious but...” Lagoona bit her lip. “Cleo is a _mess_ right now _…_ She broke up with Deuce. Draculaura is contacting her father to get us a plane out of here...”

“They _broke up?!_ ” Clawdeen asked. “God… Deuce _never_ fights! And when he does he uses his powers and never gets into anything physical!”

“The tower!” Aelita gasped. “Xana must be possessing him!”

“It’s able to do that?” Lagoona asked.

“Listen. I’m able to stop it before it can do any serious damage. But _please…_ I need someone’s help,” Aelita begged.

The three girls looked at each other.

“I help,” Abbey said proudly, “Am yet, we built to fight and survive in harshest climate.”

“If that things as dangerous as you say, then count me in too mate,” Lagoona said, placing a webbed hand on Aelita’s shoulder.

Clawdeen sighed. “This thing _hurt_ my friends… I’m not going to let it get away with that. Count me in too.”

Aelita looked at them. “Thank you. This means a lot to me… And afterward, I promise to explain everything.”

“Alright, so how do we get to this Lyoko?” Clawdeen asked, placing her hand on her hips.

Aelita smiled. “I’ll take care of that part.”

 

Frankie, Cleo, and Draculaura walked into the factory they had explored only yesterday.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to get down...” Frankie said looking at the ropes, “At least not with this arm I’m not...”

“I’ll carry you then!” Draculaura said with a toothy smile.

“Oh- Laura that’s sweet of you but you don’t have to-” Frankie yelped as she suddenly picked up and held bridal-style.

“Cleo, do you think you can be fine getting down on your own?” Draculaura asked turning back to look at the ex-princess. Cleo gave a soft nod. “Alright...” With that, Draculaura with Frankie in her arms leaped off of the loading dock and landed on the lower floor. She set Frankie down just as Cleo slid down the ropes to join them.

“So… were you _always_ that strong?” Frankie asked as they walked towards the old elevator.

Draculaura nodded while she pressed the button to bring it up. “Just another handy ability we have!” She said in her ever cheerful voice.

“That’s strange...” Cleo muttered staring at the empty shaft.

“What it?”

“The elevator made _noise_ when it’s coming up-”

“Yeah, you mentioned it yesterday about how loud it was...” Frankie said, “So?”

“Then _why_ is it dead quiet now?”

The three ghouls looked at each other.

“S-so the elevator is out of commission?” Draculaura asked, her already big pale pink eyes, growing wider.

“Looks like it… We’ll have to find some other way in,” Frankie said, “I’ll try calling Lagoona again to see if she can find another entrance.”

 

Lagoona hit the ground with a yelp.  Picking herself up she looked around her to see the ground was now purple with large, rock-like structures floating in the distance.

“Holy- What happened to us?” Clawdeen asked as overlooking her body.

Her chocolate colored fur had grown in length giving it a more ‘shaggy’ appearance, her thick, brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Sprouting behind her was a long wolf tail matching her fur color. She also now was a dark purple tube top that exposed her midriff, dark gray short-shorts, black, thick combat boots reaching just under her knee, and a long, dark trench coat. Strapped to her waist was a belt with two gun holsters containing what appeared to be a pair of pistols. A light blue visor covered her eyes.

Abbey had gone through similar changes. Her glistening white hair was almost cut choppy in varying lengths, giving her a more ‘wild’ appearance. Dancing up and down her body was dark blue tattoos in a swirled pattern. Similar to Clawdeen, she had a form-fitting halter top that exposed her midriff. However, all similarities stopped there, as her top was an icy blue, only a few shades darker than her skin. Hugging her shoulders was a series of chains interwoven together to make some sort of cape held together by a glittering, white gem resting on the yeti’s collar bone. On the bottom of the chain-cape where small, clear, crystals hanging off of the loose threads. Tied tightly around her waist was a thicker chain, holding up a skirt wrapped around her waist in a dusty indigo color. She wore brown boots that appeared to be made of some leather-like material. Strapped to her back was a large, clear, light blue staff with a white, chunky crystal attached to one end. On her face were a trio of dark blue dots under each eye and two stripes in the same color on each cheek.

They weren’t the only ones to have gotten outfit upgrades as Lagoona looked at her own body. She wore a sea green, one-piece swimsuit, with an exposed back, a short, clear jacket, a set of white, thigh-high boots with slits to allow the fins on her back legs to peek through, and golden bangles hanging loosely around her wrists. Her once long, wavy blond-and-blue-streaked hair was now cut short, just above her shoulders. Clutched in her hand was a golden trident, the staff twisting around an ivory pearl embedded in the end, and a trio of bright blue aquamarines encrusted in the head.

“Where did _these_ come from?” Clawdeen said, caustically holding out one of her pistols.

 _“Lyoko generates outfits and abilities based around one’s self. It reads into your desires, your interests, and your past to form your avatars,”_ Aelita’s disembodied voice explained.

“So what you say is-”

“These forms are made _just_ us?” Lagoona said, finishing Abbey’s sentence.

 _“Exactly._ ”

“No freakin’ way!” Clawdeen said laughing, “Can’t _ever_ let mom know about it… She’d _kill_ me if she found out I was playing with guns!” She accidentally fired a shot in Abbey’s direction.

The Yeti reacted quickly, pulling out her staff and generating a wall of ice in a single swift movement. “Watch was aiming! Nearly took out eye!” She growled.

 _“Be careful! Each pistol has a limited amount of ammo! With no one to man the computer, there’s no one to restock them._ ”

“Noted...” Clawdeen said with a wince, placing the pistols back into their holster. “So… How do we stop this Xana thing?” She asked looking up into the sky.

 _“Give me a moment._..”

After a few seconds, a wired form appeared in the sky. It materialized, the figure dropping down. “Alright… Ready for a test run?” Aelita asked, standing up.

“Test run?” Lagoona echoed.

“Remember the monsters I mentioned?” The three girls nodded. “Xana sent some. They’re called bloks and they can fire two types of attacks-” A red beam of energy flew past the girls.

“I’m guessing that's them then?” Lagoona asked pointing at a trio of cubes with legs.

“Unfortunately...”Aelita said. She flicked her wrist, a ball of electricity forming in her palm.  
The trio behind her pulled out their weapons. “On your command Pinky,” Clawdeen said, aiming her pistols.

“Now!”

With that command, the girls jumped into action.

Clawdeen was the first to attack, pulling out one of her new pistols and firing. Small indents appeared around the ground surrounding the monster. “Five shots and _NONE_ of them hit it!” Clawdeen shouted.

“Everyone improves with time!” Aelita shouted, flickering her wrist. A pink ball of energy formed in her hand. “Energy field!” She shouted extending her hand. The ball flew out and hit one of the creatures, square in the eye symbol.

“Nice job!” Lagoona called, trying to hit one of the two remaining bloks with her trident. The block fired a laser, hitting the swimmer in the shoulder. Lagoona stumbled back as sparks faded around the area she was hit. “Crikey… These little buggers really pack a punch don’t they?” She groaned as she gripped her trident. The blok she was fighting fired another laser. Lagoona acted instinctively. The gems on her trident began to glow as she swung it. A stream of water followed the head of the weapon, redirecting the red beam to her feet. “Whoa...” She said softly. She gripped her weapon tightly and swung it again, this time aiming to hit the ground. The water acted as a whip, leaving a glowing gash in the creature. The blok stumbled before exploding only leaving its legs.

Aelita looked over. “Alright, one down and-” A loud crunching sound caught the girls’ attention. There was Abbey standing triumphantly on the last blok as she removed her staff. Ice shards were embedded both in the monster, and the area around. Abbey calmly walked over.

The three looked at the trio. “On your command,” Clawdeen said putting her gun back into the empty holster.

Aelita nodded, waving her hand over a star bracelet on her wrist. A pair of pink wings sprouted from her back. “Alright… Let’s go.”

 

Frankie stumbled through the dark, trying her hardest on to trip and pull her stitches. She cursed as her foot hit something. She stretched her hand out, feeling a ladder. “Okay… Okay, there we go!” She said with a small smile. She slowly began to climb, reaching a concrete ledge. There was a hole emitting light. She looked through, seeing the inside of the computer room they had explored yesterday. She crawled through the hole, and down the ladder. As she landed, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She put her phone up to her ear. She after three rings, she heard a soft click. “Cleo! I think I-”

“Hello. You’ve managed to reach _the_ Cleo De Nile. I’m afraid I’m attending to matters _far_ more important then to answer at the given monument. If you wish, leave a voicemail after the beep and I will see if your worthy of getting called back.” A sharp beep followed.

“Cleo! It’s Frankie. I found another entrance! You have to listen to me carefully okay” She said moving over the computer. She recounted the steps she took to get back into the room. She hung up as she took a seat. The screen was on showing what looked like a map with several dots clustered together. Five red dots that appeared to be in the air, and four blue at where on the ground. Sitting on the desk was earpiece now emitting noise. “Hello?” She said nervously.

 _“Frankie?”_ Clawdeen’s voice said, _“Holy sh- Is that you?!”_

“Clawdeen?”

 _“Frankie? Oh thank god you're here!”_ What sounded like Lagoona said next.

 _“It is about time! In deep trouble!_ ” Abbey said next followed by a loud grunt.

“What is going on?!” Frankie asked.

 _“I’ll explain._ _Listen. Frankie is it? I’m Aelita. Your friends are helping me stop a dangerously violent program called Xana.”_

 

Meanwhile, Cleo and Draculaura stood in the control room messing with a set of switches. Cleo felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out and tapped the top notification. Frankie’s voice message began to play.

_“-There’s a machine room on the lower floor. Go all the way to the end and you’ll see a set of stairs. Go down and go through the two rooms.”_

  
_“We need your help Frankie. I thought we could do this alone-”_

 

_“After that, you should find a ladder. Climb it and go through the hole you find. That’s where I’ll be.”_

 

_“-Frankie I need your help to guide us...”_

 

The message ended. “You heard her,” The mummy said, “Let’s go.”

 

_“Are you willing to lend a hand?”_

Frankie took a deep breath. “Tell me what I need to do.”

 

Cleo opened the door to the control room. Her eyes widened seeing Deuce standing there. He lifted his hand, electricity crackling in his palm.

Draculaura watched on in horror as Cleo was tossed across the room like a rag doll. “CLEO!”


	3. Chapter 3

_“CLEO!”_

Cleo laid sprawled out of the ground, the world around her fuzzy. She tried to sit up, only to have a hand clamp tightly around her throat. She squirmed in her, now ex, boyfriend’s grasp. She cracked open her eyes while she tried to pry open the gorgon’s fist. Through the lens of his sunglasses, she could see his eyes flicker, pupil and iris quickly replaced with a strange eye-like symbol before returning to normal. Draculaura pounced, her vision red. She landed on Deuce’s back, gripping his vest tightly. Instinctively she clamped her mouth on the back of his neck. Hard. Deuce let go of Cleo, dropping the mummy to the ground, gasping for air. Cleo looked up in time to watch Deuce shake Draculaura off of him. Draculaura picked herself up, looking right at Deuce.

Cleo could only watch in horror as Deuce removed his sunglasses, making direct eye contact with Draculaura.

 

Clawdeen growled in frustration as one of the monsters, _hornets_ as Aelita called them, fired at them. A greenish liquid hit her feet.

“Careful! They can spit poison!” Aelita shouted as she flew out of the way of another hornet’s fire.

“You couldn’t have warned us _before_ we took them on?!” Clawdeen snarled, firing several more shots at the hornet. One of the bullets hit the monster in the eye symbol, killing it instantly.

“Nice shot mate!” Lagoona grunted as she slashed at another hornet. The aquamarines on the trident’s head glowed and a ball of water appeared. Using the movement of the weapon, she wrapped the water around the hornet. She pulled back hard, rocketing the ensnared monster right at her. She quickly threw her trident forward, not letting go of the staff, shish-kabobing the monster. She lowered her trident as the monster burst into thousands of red pixels.

“You too...” Clawdeen said with a slight wince. “Abbey how you holding up?!”

The Yeti didn’t respond. Instead, Abbey swirled her staff, frost gathering around the gem. She gave a mighty swing, launching the gathered frost at the hornet. The monster froze in mid-air, completely encased in ice. It fell, followed shortly by a bright pillar of white light.

Aelita landed. “That should be the last of them. Frankie, how are things on your end?”

_“All clear,”_ Frankie reported, _“Only 20 meters left to go!”_

“Twenty meters? How far is that exactly?” Clawdeen asked, a knot tying in her stomach.

“About 21 yards, give or take...” Lagoona responded.

“21 yards?! We’ll never make in time! There _has_ to be a faster way!” Clawdeen cried out.

“There is _something_ , but I don’t know if…” Aelita said. She gripped her arm. “Frankie, how good are you at programming?”

_“Well… computer science isn’t_ really _my forte, I’m much better at biology than anything. In fact, if you ever need to have something reanimated-”_

“Frankie! Now is not the time!” Clawdeen barked.

_“Sorry.”_

“Okay… If there is a set of instructions for you to follow could you program something?” Aelita asked.

_“I don’t see why I can’t...”_

“Okay… Okay good,” Aelita said softly. “Frankie, there should be a set of backpacks on the lower floor. Find the _plain purple one_. You're going to have dig for a bit, but if I know him it should still be there. There should be a large packet. It has instructions about some of the important programs. Find it and I’ll guide you from there,” Aelita commanded.

_“On it!”_

“In the meantime, we can’t waste time let’s get moving,” Aelita said turning to her companions. The four girls sprinted off.

 

Frankie spilled the contents of the bag out onto the floor. She dug through years old tests, uncompleted homework, and doodled on line paper. She quickly found what she was looking for, and climbed back up the ladder. “Cleo?”

The teary-eyed ex-princess looked at her. “Frankie! Oh, thank the gods above!” She cried lunging at the simulacrum with open arms. She squeezed the stitched up girl tightly. “I so worried when I didn’t see you right away!”

“Don’t worry I’m okay!” Frankie said with a smile. She tapped the ear piece. “Clawdeen! How are things on your end?”

 

_“Not good!”_ the werewolf growled.

Clawdeen and Lagoon stood crouched behind a rock as a makeshift barrier. “We barely got ten feet before we got jumped!”

_“Frankie, who are you talking to?”_ Cleo’s voice said.

“Who is that with you in the lab?!” Aelita shouted as a wall of red energy flew past them.

_“My friend Cleo… Wait a second… Cleo! Is Laura with you?”_

_“Frankie what are-”_

_“Aelita! Can you guide me on sending people to Lyoko?!”_

“Do you have the booklet?”

_“Yes!”_

“Then, yes I can,” Aelita said.

 

“Great!” Frankie said, flipping through the pages. “Then get ready! We’ll have back up sent your way!”

“Frankie what are you talking about?!” Cleo shouted.

“Clawdeen, Lagoona, Abbey, and another girl named Aelita are in this game. I don’t know how it works, but Aelita was able to tell me that people can be sent back and forth. I can send you and Draculaura to them to help them out!” Frankie explained almost at rapid-fire speed. “Where is Draculaura?”

Cleo’s face darkened. “Frankie… She’s… She’s gone,” Cleo said softly.

“What?”

 

_“Deuce turned her to stone… And with how he’s been acting-”_ Cleo broke down sobbing.

Lagoona and Abbey shared looks of disbelief from their hiding places.

_“W-what happened?!”_

_“He was trying to choke me! She attacked him but he shook her off! Next thing I know his sunglasses are off and she’s completely turned to stone!”_ Cleo sobbed.

Clawdeen slid to the ground. Her breathing became ragged as tears pricked in the corners of her eyes. “She’s g-gone?” She choked out.

Lagoona put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay mate. We can find a way to reverse it,” She said softly. The sea monster pulled Clawdeen into a tight hug.

“I’m going to _kill_ that thing...” Clawdeen muttered.

Clawdeen brushed off Lagoona. She got to her feet and left the rock.

“What are you doing?!” Aelita shrieked as Clawdeen stood in the line of fire. “Clawdeen you’re no match for a megatank, let alone _four!_ ”

Clawdeen looked at the pink haired girl. Her golden yellow eyes were now glowing. “ _Watch me…_ ” She growled.

Her head raised back, letting out a long, deep howl. Her head snapped forward. She dropped on all fours, running at the first megatank. The spherical monster let out a wall of energy. Clawdeen leaped out of the way, rolling and landing back on her hind legs. She charged, once again on all fours. She punched, landing on the closed shell of the monster. She pried open the shell, exposing the eye in the center. She used her feet to keep the shell open as she reached in. The other three girls watched as a loud mixture of ripping and cracking, as though it was the sound of someone’s arm being torn away from the shoulder, echoed through the valley. The monster exploded, dropping Clawdeen. She quickly got back to her feet.

“Go!” She shouted. “I’ve got this!”

The other girls looked at each other. Lagoona and Abbey moved first, raising their weapons. As Clawdeen jumped at the next megatank, Aelita, Lagoona, and Abbey made a beeline out of there.

 

Frankie stared at Cleo in shock. “B-but Draculaura can’t be _gone_ ?! S-she was supposed to _outlive_ all of us! Not the other way around!” Tears formed in the simulacrum’s eyes.

“But she is! Frankie, Deuce has completely _lost it!_ We need to get out of here before-”

A loud pounding sound came from the elevator.

“-He finds us…”

The loud sound of metal being forcibly bent backwards, filled the room. Deuce fell from the ceiling. He rose slowly, making direct contact with the two girls.

Frankie pressed the button on the earpiece. “Aelita… He’s in the lab…” Frankie said shaking.

_“Frankie get out of there! He’ll_ **_kill_** you!” Aelita screamed at her.

Frankie tried to run. But her legs refused to work.

Deuce ran at them, fist once again raised, aiming right at Frankie’s face.

“NO!” Cleo screamed. The mummy grabbed the gorgon’s arm. The two struggled. “I’m not letting you take another one of my friends away from me!” She shrieked.

“Cleo don’t!” Frankie screamed rushing to pry the two apart.

Deuce shook the two off of him, knocking both to the ground. He reached for his sunglasses, looking right in Frankie’s eyes.  


“There it is!” Aelita shouted pointing to a cylindrical structure. It was white with a large, black mass at the bottom, and it had a red halo around it. The three girls slowed to a stop. Aelita looked up at it.

“What are waiting for?!” Abbey snapped, “Hurry before friends become lawn ornaments!”

Aelita nodded, walking up and through the mass.

 

Cleo shoved Frankie off of her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a compact mirror. She opened it just at Deuce’s glasses were completely removed. She looked away and pointed the mirror at Deuce.  
Aelita walked to the center of the lower platform. A glow covered her, lifting her feet up. She floated upwards to the second floor. As she landed, a holographic screen appeared before her.  
Cleo looked away, shutting her eyes tightly as a ‘crackling’ sound was heard. She peeked her eyes open, to see Deuce Gorgon, the love of her life, completely turned to stone.

 

Aelita placed her hand on the screen.

AELITA

CODE:

LYOKO

“Tower Deactivated...” She said to no one. She tapped the screen a few more times.

 

In the scanner room, the trio of scanners hissed open. Clawdeen, Lagoona, and Abbey stumbled out, shaking their heads.

“What just… What just happened?” Clawdeen asked rubbing her temples.

“No clue. Head feel like someone splitting it in two...” Abbey moaned.

The middle scanner whirled to life. It hissed open. Aelita stepped out calmly. “The three of you did well for your-”

A heart-wrenching wail erupted from the upper.

“Cleo!” Clawdeen shouted. She and her two friends ran to the elevator.

Once the doors reopened, there they saw Cleo, her arms wrapped around a stone Deuce. Frankie was rubbing her back. “Cleo I’m so sorry...”

“H-He c-c-can’t be gone!” The mummy wailed.

“Cleo it’s going to be okay!”

“B-but who knows how long it’ll last!” Cleo sobbed. “W-what if-” she broke down crying.

“Frankie, what happened?” Lagoona asked walking up to the mint-green girl.

“Deuce tried to attack us...” Frankie said softly, “And Cleo…” Frankie turned away.

“Oh god...” Lagoona muttered.

“F-Frankie… Where’s Draculaura?” Clawdeen asked.

“T-The control room,” Cleo said with a sniffle. “Deuce-” Cleo stopped herself. “ _He_ ambushed us. She should still be there...”

“Wait I’m confused. Are- are you all implying _he_ turned you friend into- into _stone_?” Aelita asked looking at the stoneified Deuce.

“Deuce is Gorgon,” Abbey explained, “Gorgon has ability to turn people to stone.”

“A Gorgon?! Like Medusa from Greek mythology?"

“There _has_ to some way to reverse this!” Frankie said.

“How?!” Clawdeen shouted, “Frankie, the only person that knows how to undo a Gorgon’s stare has been _turned to stone_ , and I doubt _any_ of us what to go talk to mama Gorgon herself!”

Lagoona shook her head. “If only we had some way to go back in time and stop all of this from happening!”

Aelita looked up nervously. “There is actually...”

Clawdeen perked up. “Are you serious?!”

Aelita nodded. “There’s a program on the computer… It allows time to reverse-”

“Then what are you waiting for!” Cleo shouted, letting go of Deuce. She grabbed a hold of Aelita’s shoulders. “Launch it please!”

Aelita stepped back out of the mummy’s grasp. “That’s the thing… It can’t bring back the dead...”

Frankie’s eyes lit up. “Deuce’s stare can’t kill!”

“What?”

“Frankie’s right!” Clawdeen jumped in. “Deuce’s stare doesn't kill! It can wear off!”

Frankie nodded. “He told us it only turns the person inanimate! You have no idea how many times Deuce has accidentally turned himself or someone else into stone!”

“If it doesn’t kill… Then maybe...” Aelita looked at the monitor.

“Launch it hurry!” Clawdeen begged.

“Alright… Give me a second...” Aelita said walking over to the computer. The girls crowded around her as she typed away. “Return to the past now!” She shouted, hitting the enter key.

 

Clawdeen bolted awake. Her head was pounding as she looked around the room. Both Lagoona and Abbey sat upright in their beds, dazed.

“W-what happened?” Abbey asked as she crawled out of her bed.

“No idea mate…” Lagoona said.

Clawdeen’s eyes widened. “Draculaura!” She shouted bolting out of bed. She ran to the door separating the two rooms. She threw the door open. The werewolf bolted to Draculaura’s bedside. She shook the still girl. “Laura! Laura please wake up!” She begged.

Draculaura lifted her eye-mask. “Clawdeen?”She asked rubbing her eyes, “What are-” Clawdeen hugged her tightly.

“You’re alive! Oh thank god you’re alive!” Clawdeen cried, nuzzling the confused girl.

“Of course I am?” Draculaura said confused. She pried Clawdeen off of her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Are you serious?!” Frankie shouted in surprise.

“One hundred percent mate…” Lagoona said.

Deuce, Cleo, Draculaura, and Frankie sat on Draculaura’s hotel bed shocked over the story they just heard.

“So what you say is… I tried to…” Deuce said shaking his head. “Dude…”

“But then _why_ don’t _we_ remember anything but you _do_...”Cleo asked raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

“You think we know?! One second I’m hearing my best friend is _gone forever_ , and the next my day is starting over again!” Clawdeen shouted, waving her arms for emphasis. Her eye widened. “But I think I know _someone_ who will…”

 

Aelita could hear the sound of the scanner opening. She looked up, blinking at the lights. As her vision cleared she saw seven familiar looking girls and one boy looking at her.

“So…” Clawdeen said with a smirk and crossing her arms, “How about the explanation you owe us?”


	4. Chapter 4

Aelita sat in the chair connected to the computer, the large group of friends standing in front of her. “So… What do you want to know first?”

“How about ‘how did we go back in time?’” Clawdeen demanded.

“The Return to the Past program,” She explained, “It has the power to reverse time up to a few days. I don’t fully understand how it works, only that it does.”

“So if time really did reverse-” Cleo butted in, pushing Clawdeen back, “How come they-” She gestured to Lagoona, Abbey, and Clawdeen. “-Remember it and  _ we _ don’t?”

“Like I said, we-” Aelita winced. “- _ I _ don’t understand the program too much. One thing I  _ do _ know is that those who’ve been scanned by the supercomputer keep their memories when time reverses,” She continued, “I’ve only met  _ one _ person that managed to get past it. But that was after she managed to get access to the supercomputer.”

“So… Everything they told us is the truth?” Deuce asked, “I really?” Aelita nodded her hand. Deuce put a hand to his forehead. “Dude… That’s- that’s fucked up…”

“Trust me, that’s not even the worst he’s done…” Aelita said, her eyes growing dark.

“There’s  _ worse _ things then forcing someone to nearly kill their friends?” Deuce asked skeptically.

Aelita took a deep breath. “Kidnapped and replaced someone I knew with a clone, nearly drowned another friend of mine, tried to cook two of other friends  _ alive _ , made amnesia a contagious disease, started a zombie apocalypse,  _ tried to nuke a close friend of mine from space- _ ”

“Holy shit!” Clawdeen said, “And your 100% serious?!”

“I wish I could say no…”

“God damn… How are you still sane?!”

Aelita sighed. “I have no clue…”

“Okay. So what  _ is _ this ‘Xana’ anyway?” Frankie asked taking a step forward.

“That I  _ do _ know,” Aelita said, almost glad to have the subject changed. “Xana was designed as a counter to a military project known as ‘Project: Carthage.’ It was designed to learn and adapt in order to complete its mission. Only problem was…”

“It grew too smart,” Clawdeen finished, crossing her arms.

“Exactly. It turned on humanity, and it’s creator. My father.” There was a stunned silence. “The people that made Carthage, went after my father. So he made Lyoko as a place to hide. But when we escaped…”

“Xana turned on you…” Frankie said.

Aelita nodded. “Xana was too strong for my father, so he was forced to shut it down, locking the two of us away,” She finished.

“Until we came along and turned it back on huh?” Clawdeen said raising an eyebrow.

Aelita shook her head. “No, not exactly...” She said sheepishly. “Someone else found me, and turned the computer back on…” Her eyes darkened, becoming clouded with sorrow. “He worked day and night to save me, and to make sure Xana was gone forever.”

“What happened to him?” Draculaura asked.

Aelita sniffled. “I- I don’t want to talk about it,” She said, her voice cracking. She dried her eyes. “What important is, now that the computer is back on, Xana is free to do whatever it wants.” She looked at the girls. “And honestly, I don’t want to think about what it might try to do… Unless-”

“Unless what?” Cleo asked.

Aelita looked up at them. “Xana has a counter.  _ Me. _ I’m able to deactivate its towers, putting an end to its attacks. But I can’t do it alone. I need someone to protect me while I’m on Lyoko.” She took a deep breath. “Clawdeen, Lagoona, Abbey. Can you three continue helping me fight Xana?” She asked.

The trio looked at each other. “I- I don’t know how to respond…” Lagoona stuttered.

“I do,” Clawdeen said. “I’m in.”

“Are you  _ positive _ ?” Aelita asked nervously, “Because if so, there is no going back.”

Clawdeen looked at Draculaura. “That thing almost took my  _ best  _ friend away from me. No way in hell am I letting it do that to other people,” She said, a confident smile spreading across her face.

“Count me in too!” Abbey said. “Yeti’s known as warriors in past. Would be most honor to be warrior in present.”

A glimmer of hope sparked in Aelita’s eyes as she looked at Lagoona.

“Clawdeen’s right,” The sea monster said, “That thing is just going to keep hurting more people if we stand back and do nothing. I’m in.”

“Me too!” Frankie said, neck bolts sparking. Aelita looked at her shocked. “Me and my friends have done so much together in the past-” She looked at the trio, “-So no way in hell am I going to let them do this alone!”

“And me!” Draculaura said, waving her hand up high.

Cleo rolled her eyes. “I  _ suppose _ if everyone else is doing this, I might as well...” She sighed. A smirk then appeared on her face. “I’m in.”

All the girls looked at Deuce. He put his hands up defensively. “No offense dudette, but that thing took over my  _ mind _ and forced me to attack my friends. If your honest about that thing living in there, then no way am I going to where that thing lives!” He said. He adjusted his sunglasses. “But, if you need help in the real world, I can try my best…”

“Thank you-”

“Deuce,” He said sticking his hand out, “Deuce Gorgon.”

“Thank you Deuce,” Aelita said. “And thank you all for this. None of you know  _ just _ how much this means to me.”

Frankie smiled, placing a hand on Aelita’s shoulder. “Of course! Helping others is what we do best!”

Aelita returned the smile. “We need to get the three of you scanned, so that way you can keep your memories after Returns to the Past,” She said, taking a seat at the computer.

The three unscanned girls look at each other nervously.

“Will it hurt?” Draculaura asked nervously.

Clawdeen put an arm around the smaller girl. “Don’t worry, you barely realize it’s happening!”   
  
  


Frankie stumbled out of the scanner, trying to regain her balance. “Whoa…”

Cleo stepped out of her scanner, dignified as ever. “Finally! That felt like it took a  _ millennia,” _ She complained, brushing her hair over her shoulders. She looked at Frankie. “And what’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t think my body likes the scanner…” Frankie chuckled nervously. She shook her head, as she followed Cleo back into the elevator, followed closely by Draculaura.

“Frankie you don’t look well…” Draculaura said timidly as the elevator began to ascend.

“I don’t  _ feel _ well…” Frankie groaned as the doors reopened.

“How it go?” Clawdeen asked as the trio rejoined the group.

“It felt really tingly,” Draculaura said, walk over and leaning against the supercomputer chair. “Is it suppose to feel that way?” She asked looking at Aelita.

“That’s normal. As time goes on, you’ll get used to the feeling.” Aelita typed away at the keyboard, Draculaura peering over her shoulder.

“Is that what I’ll look like on Lyoko?!” The girl gasped.

Aelita nodded. “I’m just making sure the scanning process went okay. The last thing we is for you to be missing something important when you go to Lyoko for the first time.” She hit several keys, pulling up some additional information. “Judging from the data gathered it looks like your-”

“I look so adorable!” Draculaura squealed. “Clawdeen come take a look!”

The werewolf walked over. “What-a-know. The computer’s got style,” She said. She chuckled. “Hey look it included your parasol.”

“Parasol  _ shotgun,” _ Aelita corrected.

“What about you Clawdeen? What do you look like?” Draculaura asked, turning to look at her best friend.

“Some sort of bounty hunter with a dash of cyberpunk mixed in,” Clawdeen said with a shrug.

“That’s strange…” Aelita muttered.

“What is?” Clawdeen asked.

“Frankie I think you should look at this,” Aelita said, turning to the green skinned girl.

Frankie walked over. “What is it?”

Aelita pointed to the screen, at chunk of data. “Something is going on with your data. I don’t know what, but this is something I’ve never seen before…” Aelita explained. “Frankie… What exactly  _ are _ you?”

Frankie bit her lip. “I’m a simulacrum. I’m made up of different parts that my father created in his lab over years… I was given life during a lightning storm.” 

“You thinkin’ Frankie’s body might be the cause?” Clawdeen asked.

“It might be…” Aelita said. She shook her head. “Until I can figure out what’s going on, I’m afraid you can’t go to Lyoko…”

Frankie’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. I understand.”

Aelita gave her a worried glance. 

“So is there anything  _ else _ you need to do or are we free to go?” Cleo asked placing her hands on her hips.

Clawdeen chuckled seeing Aelita’s slightly annoyed expression. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the trademarked ‘De Nile’ attitude.”

Aelita got out of the chair. “Yes, that should be it…” Aelita said facing the group.

“Great!” Cleo said stretching. “Well, how do you girls feel about trying the Petit Palais again? And this time  _ not _ let Frankie guide us?” Cleo asked, “I want to spend at least  _ some _ of our vacation sightseeing, instead of  _ wasting _ it in this dusty ol’ factory.”

“Wait  _ vacation _ ?” Aelita said with wide eyes, “What do you mean by vacation?!”

Cleo laughed. “ _ Sweetie- _ ” She said in a sickeningly sweet tone, “-All of us are here for our fall break. And when the week is over we go back home to America.”

“B-but you can’t go back! What if Xana attacks?!” Aelita said panicked, “If all of you are in  _ America,  _ then how are you supposed to get to the supercomputer, o-or Lyoko?!”

Cleo scoffed. She sashayed over and ruffled Aelita’s hair. “Don’t worry about it,” Cleo said patting Aelita’s head. She snapped her fingers. “Deuce! I’ll need help gathering ink, a paintbrush, round, size 6 should do, and help locating the perfect spot to open up a connecting passageway.” Cleo looked at Aelita. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I can goats blood do you?” she asked.

“What?!”

Cleo rolled her eyes playfully. “Calm down! I was joking!” She chuckled, climbing into the elevator. “I wouldn’t  _ dream _ of using  _ goat’s  _ blood in a ritual. I only use lambs.” The elevator’s doors shut.

“S-she’s not  _ serious _ is she?!”

Clawdeen looked at the pinkette. “Honestly I stopped questioning a  _ long _ time ago...”

Draculaura put a hand on Aelita’s shoulder. “Don’t worry! Cleo knows what she’s doing!” She said cheerfully.

Lagoon spoke up. “The days going fasts mates, I’m sure Aelita’s family is getting worried sick ‘bout her.” The sea monster looked at said girl. “While Cleo gets to that, we can walk ya’ home. Where ya’ live mate?”

Aelita looked down.

“What’s wrong?” Lagoona asked.

“I don’t have a home…” Aelita said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“What?!” Frankie shouted, startling everyone, “W-what about your father? And mother?”

Aelita’s face darkened, and her eyes became clouded. “M-my father d-died…” She choked out, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. Clawdeen jumped in pulling the girl into a tight hug.   
  
“What happened?” Frankie asked.

Aelita sniffled. “W-when the supercomputer was first turned on-” She said in between tears, “-He sacrificed himself to provide energy to a program made to destroy Xana… Only. It didn’t work. Xana found a way to come back, making my father’s death-” She stopped herself, bursting into heavy sobs.

Frankie covered her mouth. “Oh god…”

“W-what about your mother?” Lagoona asked.

Aelita wiped away tears. “S-she vanished when I was five. The group my father was out to stop found us and kidnapped her…” She said, “After years I found her again, only…”

“Only what?”

Aelita pressed into Clawdeen’s chest. “The man holding her captive… He found us poking around and threaten us to stop or else-”

“You would never see her again?” Clawdeen said, finishing for Aelita. The pinkette nodded, nuzzling Clawdeen.

“Any other family? There has to have been  _ someone _ you’ve been staying with!” Frankie asked, desperate.

“I- I stayed at a boarding school. My friends had gotten me enrolled,” Aelita said breaking the hug, “But I don’t think I can return. Not without questions I don’t want to answer.” Aelita looked away. “But other than that I’m all alone…”

Frankie looked at the group. “Huddle.”

“Frankie what are we supposed to do?” Clawdeen whispered, looking back at the red-eyed girl. “We can’t just leave her!”

Sound of agreement came from the group.

“What can we do?” Lagoona asked.

Frankie’s bolts sparked up. “I got!”

“Got what?” Clawdeen asked skeptically.   


“We can take her back to Monster High with us!”

“Frankie are you serious?!” Clawdeen hissed. “We can’t just take her back with us! How do we explain her to Ms. Bloodgood?!”

“Tell her the truth,” Frankie said bluntly.

“Oh yeah I can see that going down well!” Clawdeen snarked, “’Hey Ms. Bloodgood! We have a new student wanting to join the school! We found her in a computer!’”

“Not ta’ mention she’s a normie,” Lagoona butted in, “Everyone would go after her like piranhas after a piece of fresh meat!”

“What choice do we have?” Frankie asked. “If we leave her here, Xana has an easy target. We  _ have _ to bring her back with us!”

Clawdeen and Lagoona looked at Frankie skeptically.

Frankie sighed. “Listen! We don’t have to tell Bloodgood the  _ whole _ truth. All we can say is during a trip to France, we met Aelita and helped her. Told her about Monster High and she wanted to join. Sound good?”

Clawdeen sighed. “Fine. But you’re  _ not _ dragging me down if it goes south got it?”

Frankie nodded as the huddle broke. She took a deep breath and clapped her hands together. “Alright! Aelita. We think it’s best if you come back with us to America!” She said with a smile.

Aelita stared at the group in shock. “W-what?”

“We want you to come back to our school with us,” Lagoona explained, “That way we’re all together.”

“No! I can't, I  _ have _ to stay with the computer-”

“But do you really  _ want to?” _

Aelita stayed quiet. 

“Wants and needs are two very different things love,” Lagoona said, placing a gentle hand on Aelita’s shoulder. 

“I want to go with you…” Aelita said in a soft voice.

“So it’s settled then,” Frankie jumped in, “Aelita will come back home with us. We’ll talk to Cleo’s dad about-”

“Talk to my father about what?” Cleo asked stepping out of the elevator.

The girls all looked at her. “You’re finished already?” Clawdeen asked.

Cleo rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m done. The connecting doorway is tied to the entrance to the catacombs back home. Now what about my father?” She asked, scanning the room.

Frankie put her hands on Aelita’s shoulders. “We want to take Aelita home with us. Back to Monster High. We were hoping that your father could-”

“-Pay for the extra ticket?” Cleo finished. “On it,” She said pulling out her phone, “At the same time I’ll have him order the servants to clear out one of our guest rooms for her-”

“Whoa whoa whoa! Back it up!” Clawdeen said stepping in, “Who said she’s staying with  _ you _ ?”

Cleo laughed. “Well it would only be natural for her to stay with me,” She said rolling her eyes.

Clawdeen crossed her arms. “Uh, yeah sure. If we wanted to have the poor girl put up with you and Nefera’s constant fighting. If she stays with anyone, she stays with me.”

“Oh because mine and my sister’s bickering is worse than living with a bunch of untrained  _ mutts _ .”

There was a look of murder in Clawdeen’s eyes. “What did you just say.”

Cleo smirked dangerously. “I wouldn’t  _ dream _ of having the poor girl getting stuck with that wild  _ pack _ of yours. Let alone on the full moon,” she said with a scoff.

Clawdeen let out a low, threatening growl. “You want to go  _ mummy breath?!” _

“Is that the best insult you’ve got?”

“ALRIGHT!” Lagoona shouted jumping in between the two, “ _ Ms. Bloodgood _ will decide where she can stay. Not us...”

The two bickering teens looked at the sea monster. “I  _ suppose  _ you’re right…” Cleo sighed, relaxing her shoulders.

Clawdeen looked at the mummy. “Fine… We’ll let Bloodgood decide,” she said, forcing her fur to lie flat.

“So… Now what do we do?” Draculaura asked, the mood of the room beginning to calm down.

“Well like I keep  _ mentioning _ , we have the Petit Palais to go see,” Cleo said.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Lagoona said, “Let's get going.”

The massive group begin to file into the elevator. All while Aelita stood back and watched.

Frankie looked behind her. “Aren’t you coming?”

“What?” Aelita looked at Frankie perplexed.

“Don’t you want to come with us?” Frankie asked, “I mean if we’re going to be working together we should get to know each other right?”

Aelita looked at the elevator for a brief moment. A soft smile appeared on her face as she joined the group.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the chapter begins I want to say thank you all for over 100 hits! I'd never thought this story would be liked since it's such a weird crossover, but here I am. And a huge thank you to Animution11, one of my best friends and beta reader for helping me stay motivated. You've really helped me grow as a writer and I'm so lucky we're friends. Now enough of the sappy opening and onward to the chapter!

Cleo sat on one of the freshly-made hotel beds. "All I'm saying-" She ranted as she busily filed her fake nails, "-Don't _any_ of you notice a pattern forming?"

"Oh is there now?" Clawdeen said, not even paying the least bit of attention to Cleo. Instead, she was focusing on the open sketchbook laying in front of her. She laid on her belly on one of the other hotel beds in the room.

"Seriously! _Every single time,_  we leave New Salem, we end up _whisked_ away on some adventure. Somewhere along the way we meet someone, befriend them, and 9 times out of 10 we bring _back_ to Monster High, _begging_ to Ms. Bloodgood to let them join!"

"Really."

Cleo put the file down. "All I'm saying is, why can’t just for _once_ we have a _normal_ trip.

"100% agree Cleo..."

She looked over at Clawdeen. "Are you even listening to me?!" She shrieked.

Clawdeen looked up. "What did ya' say?" She asked, closing her book and sitting upright.

Cleo shot Clawdeen a deadly glare. She grabbed one of the pillows resting on the bed and threw it at Clawdeen.

"Hey!" Clawdeen shouted, batting the pillow away. "What the hell?!"

"Here _I_ am _trying_ to vent, _and you_ have the _gall_ to _ignore me?!"_ Cleo shouted, crossing her arms.

Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "Sorry _princess,_ but not everyone has to bow down to you every second of the day," She snickered.

"I'll have you know that I could've had you _hung_ -"

"Alright, that's it!" Lagoona shouted, slamming the book she was reading. She stood up from the desk in the hotel room, a sour look on her face. "We have until 3:30 for our flight back home. So for the love of god do not get us kicked out..."

Cleo huffed, scrunching her nose.

"- _And,_ Clawdeen has a point," Lagoona continued, "She doesn't have to listen to you if she doesn't want to."

Before Cleo could retort, the door flung open, revealing the group's missing members, and the newest member to the group. "We're back everyone!" Frankie said, taking a step into the room.

"So how did it go?" Clawdeen asked climbing off the bed.

"Deuce has been successfully scanned into the computer's memory, so any return the pasts won't affect his memory," Aelita explained, hanging an olive green backpack on the chair connecting to the desk

"What about the Bloodgood situation?" Lagoona asked, "Does Aelita officially have a place to stay or will she be crashin' at one of our places for a while?"

"All sorted out!" Frankie said with a confident smile, "Aelita's host family will be at the airport to pick her up when we land."

"Well that's at least one weight off our chests," Clawdeen said. "So Deuce is scanned, Aelita's living situation is wrapped up, and there's been no alerts since we turned the computer back on... So what do we do now?"

"Well if _I'm_ remembering correctly..." Cleo started, "The last time we came to Paris we never _truly_ got to do the exploring that we intended. So I was thinking that we could _possibly_ walk around the Louvre and Tuileries district-"

"Cleo that's a shopping district..." Clawdeen intruded.

Cleo looked almost offended. "And how exactly do you _know_ that it's-"

"Back at the boot camp Madame. Ghostiere took us on a trip _to that district_ to show us the do's and don'ts of fashion." A sly smile spread across Clawdeen's face. "You just want to do some last-minute shopping."

"Alright _fine!_ " Cleo groaned. "Toralie _ruined_ our last trip by dragging us around to all the stores _she_ wanted to go to and I've been _dying_ since we landed to go and walk around!"

All of the mummy’s long-time friends let out light chuckles, while Aelita watched on confused.

"You know what? I think Cleo might be right-" Frankie started.

"Of _course_ I'm right."

"-The last time we came to Paris, Clawdeen spend all of her time at the fashion boot camp, I was helping Rochelle hunt down Garrot, and from what I heard, you guys spent most of your time trying to keep Toralei from wandering off," Frankie continued, ignoring Cleo's interruption, "None of us really had a chance to just walk around. Even this trip, _being_ the make-up trip, most of the time has been spent trying to get Aelita set up at Monster High. So let's do what we came here for! To make up for lost time!"

Sounds of cheering came from the tight-knit group.

"Well if we're going to go walk around let's get started right now! We have only 3 and a half hours until we need to get to the airport!" Clawdeen piped up, holding her phone for all to see.

"Then I guess we don't have any time to lose!" Frankie said with a determined smile.

 

Each girl moved around the store, browsing about the tables or racks of clothing scattered around the store, occasionally calling another over to look at something or to shove a bundle of clothing into their arms and push them into a changing room, all while eagerly chattering to the others.

But Aelita barely paid attention to what was happening around her.

She sat in one of the overstuffed loveseats stationed by the dressing rooms, messing with her flip phone, the only thing of hers she was able to get that didn’t require her to sneak into her dorm at Kadic.

“I didn’t know people still used flip phones.”

Aelita turned to look at Frankie. “It’s special to me… I can’t really bring myself to get rid of it,” She said shifting in her seat. She squeezed the first-ever thing she had _truly_ owned since arriving back on earth.

Frankie sat down beside her, brushing a strand of black and white hair from her eyes. “Yeah, I get that. I have an old chemistry set in my room my parents got me for my first Christmas present after waking up. I lost most of the pieces to it, but I can’t bring myself to toss it out.”

Aelita nodded. She stayed quiet, looking at the tiled floor.

“Your not really chatty are you?” Frankie asked, a playful smirk appearing on her face.

Aelita flipped the phone open then back shut. “I guess I’m not used to people outside of my friend group… With Xana attacking almost every other day, we didn’t really have time to make or _keep_ friends outside of the group.”

“I can imagine,” Frankie said, tapping her finger against her knee, “Having to drop everything in a heartbeat wouldn’t rub well with others.” She straightened her posture. “But-” She popped the ‘but’, “I think we can find a way to work around it when we get you Monster High. There’s so many people there you’ll no doubt find _someone_ to-”

“Frankie, please stop.”

Frankie’s ever-present smile fell as a mixture of hurt and confusion took its place.

“I’m incredibly thankful for all of you for helping me with Lyoko, and fighting Xana...” Aelita started, her eyes becoming cloudy with emotion, “But… I can’t get too attached… This is incredibly dangerous and I’ve almost died more times than I can count… I _have_ died once…” Aelita hugged herself tightly. “I can’t handle innocent people getting hurt because of _me_.”

“Not even us?”

Hazel met Blue-green.

“No. Right now we’re acquaintances and it’s best if we all stayed that way.”

Small sparks licked the large bolts embedded into Frankie’s neck. “Alright then… Challenge accepted.” A determined glint shone in her eyes.

“What?” Aelita said with a faint laugh.

Frankie got to her feet, pulling Aelita up with her. “If your going to be working with us, one of the first things you need to know is I can be _very_ stubborn,” She said with a wide grin, “and I am _not_ going to sit by as you seclude yourself from everyone.” She grabbed Aelita’s wrist tightly.

“H-hey!”

“Clawdeen, me and Aelita are going out on our own for a while!” Frankie shouted as she pulled Aelita to the front of the store.

“Alright! We’ll let you know when to meet up back at the hotel!” Clawdeen shouted, looking up from the table she was browsing.

Frankie smiled, dragging Aelita out the front doors. “Okay… So first I think we should get some basic necessities, we’ll need to get you a suitcase, a few outfits for you until we can _truly_ take you shopping, basic hygiene-”

“Hold on a second!” Aelita shouted, breaking out of Frankie’s grasp. “Slow down! This is- This is going too fast!”

“I’m sorry, we can focus on what you-”

“No I mean- this week! It’s going _way_ too fast! We’ve barely known each other for a few days but your all so- so _accepting_ of _everything_ !” Aelita shouted, “Of virtual worlds, killer AI, of _me?”_

Frankie looked at the pinkette. She chuckled. “With some of the things we’ve gone through, this isn’t all that weird,” She said with a shrug.

“Really?” Aelita asked skeptically.

Frankie sat down on a nearby bench. “Well…” She started, “I had to help stop Clawdeen’s sister from nearly imprisoning the school while under the control of an evil genie.”

Aelita looked at Frankie with surprise. “Really?”

Frankie nodded. “Also had to win a skating tournament against a rival school from _literally_ falling apart, _and_ had to stop Draculaura’s evil ex from sucking all of the love out of her,” She continued. “What about you?” She asked, patting the spot beside her, “I’m sure you have some stories to tell.”

Aelita stood there for a second. She hesitantly sat next to Frankie. “I guess.”

“Do you feel comfortable sharing any of them?”

Aelita looked at the ground. A faint smile appeared on her lips. “When I first came to earth, everyone was excited to show me around.” She gave a small laugh. “They wanted to give me a ‘true earthling experience’. Their words, not mine…” she eyes grew cloudy with emotion. “Odd was determined to show me everything. He forgot that because it was basically my first time on earth, that I didn’t know some of the unsaid rules of earth.”

“Like what?”

“Don’t eat ice cream too fast for one.”

Frankie laughed. “Made the same mistake when I first woke up!” She said, “My parents were so excited they forgot that they basically left their newborn daughter alone with a carton of ice cream. Scared them to death when I got my first brain freeze. And don’t even get me _started_ on the nightmare that was my first week of school.”

“Why what happened?” Aelita asked.

Frankie groaned, sinking in her seat. “It was a complete disaster!” She said, “Not _only_ did I embarrassed myself in front of Cleo _several_ times, but I _also_ ended up nearly wrecking her and Deuces relationship. Talk about a horrible first week…”

Aelita was quiet. “I walked into the boys' dorm bathroom… _While_ they were showering...”

Frankie stared at Aelita wide-eyed. “Really?”

Aelita nodded, a faint blush roseying her cheeks. “I was… acting on misleading information at the time,” She said sheepishly.

“I can understand that,” Frankie said, “Going to school was hard for me. Because I didn’t have the experience like everyone else, several of the students decided it would be ‘fun’ to get me to do things that would get me in trouble...” Her cheerful tone dropped. “I kept getting in trouble and soon Lagoona found out what was going on. Because we shared several classes together she’d walk with me, or sit with me at lunch. She and later on Clawdeen, Draculaura, and Cleo were there to help guide me and catch me up on everything I needed to know. I don’t know do without them.”

“We were like that…” Aelita said, her voice no louder than a whisper.

“We?” Frankie asked, “You mentioned someone found you before us if you feel comfortable talking about them...”

Aelita hesitated. “They where… my family…” Aelita began softly, “They risked their lives all so _I_ could have one, and when Xana escaped the computer they continued to fight right by my side…” She wiped away a tear. “I couldn’t have asked for better friends.”

“If it’s okay to ask… What were their names?”

Aelita gripped her knees. “There was Odd…” She said, allowing herself to get lost in her memories, “He was the jokester of the group. Even if they were horrible, his jokes would always make us smile… “

“Then there was Ulrich. He was the strongest and was the bravest of all of us. We all knew we could count on him when things went haywire.”

“Yumi was the oldest of us and was like an older sister to us all. We could go to her if we needed someone to vent to. And we would be there to listen if she needed someone to talk too.”

“William joined us much later. He-” Aelita hesitated, “He ended up getting captured by Xana on his first trip to Lyoko… We fought tooth and nail to free him, but when we did… We _all_ struggled to let what happened when he was under Xana’s control go… And it wasn’t fair to him. He was hurting and we kept pushing him away for things he had no control over. We let him back into the group when we needed his help again.” 

“And then there was Jeremie. He was everything to me. He _saved_ me. He gave me another chance, and I-” Aelita stopped herself. Tears filled her eyes.

Frankie looked at her concerned. “You don’t have to continue,” She said placing a hand on Aelita’s.

“I- I- Thank you…” Aelita said softly.

Frankie stood up, pulling Aelita to her feet. “We should get moving,” She said, a soft smile, “We have a lot to do and little time to do it.”

Aelita gave a small ‘okay’ and let Frankie guide her.  


The two girls walked along the streets, peering into the occasional shop. “So… How long have you been back on earth?” Frankie asked.

“Around two years at this point,” Aelita answered.  
“Oh cool,” Frankie said, hoping for a longer answer. “So... have you always lived in France or was it recent-”

 “Yes, I’ve always lived here.”

Frankie closed her mouth, groaning internally. Apparently getting Aelita to open up again was going to be harder than trying to give Watzit a bath. 

“So, have you ever left France before?” Frankie asked, hoping to get more than a one-sentence answer.

“No,” Aelita answered, “My father felt it was too dangerous.”

“He must have really cared for you,” Frankie said smiling.

Aelita stopped in her tracks. “He really did.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

Frankie gently placed a hand on Aelita’s shoulder. “Do you wanna-”  
“No,” Aelita said, her voice cold. She took a deep breath, putting on a fake smile. “Shouldn’t we continue? We don’t have all day after all,” She said with fake cheerfulness to match the smile.

Frankie looked at Aelita. “I don’t want to push but maybe we _should_ talk about- Hey!” She shouted as Aelita suddenly grabbed her wrist. Frankie suddenly found herself now being the one lead by Aelita. She tried to pull out of Aelita’s grip the best she could without ripping her stitches. To her surprise, the girl was much stronger then she appeared to be.

Then suddenly Aelita stopped dead in her tracks.

Frankie looked up at Aelita confused. She stood there staring at a flier hanging up on the side of a building. Frankie looked at the flier closer see what Aelita was staring at.

On the flier what looked like a yearbook photo of an Asian girl smiling. While Frankie couldn’t understand what most of the flier said she could make out a name.

Yumi Ishiyama.

It was a missing flier.

Frankie’s heart sank at the realization of what she was looking at. “Oh, Aelita...” She looked at the pink-haired girl. Large tears streamed down the girl’s face. Frankie wrapped the girl into a tight hug as Aelita sobbed into her shoulder. “Aelita what happened?”

“It’s my fault…” Aelita whispered, her voice so faint Frankie doubted she would’ve been able to hear it if it wasn’t for the fact Aelita was pressed right next to her ear. “If never went to Lyoko that day-” She cut herself off with another sob.

Frankie broke the hug holding Aelita gently by the shoulders. “Aelita, you’re _hurting_ I can see it, and I want to help but I can’t if you keep pushing me and the others away. We _want_ to be friends with you and help you but you have to let us in first,” She said gently, “Please, why have you been secluding yourself from us?”

For several heartbeats, a thick silence stood between the two girls. “I don’t want you all to leave me…”

Frankie looked at Aelita.

Aelita broke down again. “I don’t want you to all leave me when you see what Xana can do. I don’t want to hurt again!” Aelita was shaking. “I’ve lost everything, my parents, my friends- the only family I had ever known, and suddenly I have new people trying to come into my life and I don’t want to have to go through this pain again if something happens to any of you!” She sobbed, collapsing to her knees.

Frankie bent down, cradling Aelita’s face in her hands. “Aelita, I’m not going to leave you,” She said gently, moving her hands from Aelita’s face and now gently holding her hands, “I _promise_ you that no matter what is thrown my way I will fight right by your side. Even if we had our backs against the wall and it was just us two left, I would still fight right by your side, because like it or not you’re my _friend_ , and friends stay together, through thick and thin.”

The tears slowed as Aelita meet Frankie’s eyes. “Promise?” She asked, her voice just barely above a whisper.

“I promise.”

Aelita relaxed, wiping away the tears from her eyes. “Thank you… I’m sorry you had to see that,” She said with a sad smile.

Frankie helped her up off the ground. “You don’t have to apologize for how you feel,” Frankie said, smiling. “I think we should stop our shopping trip here,” she said taking Aelita’s hand, “How about we go get ice cream to help you cheer up, and go back to the hotel room and watch terrible movies until the others get back. Deal?”

“Deal,” Aelita said, an actual smile spreading across her face.

The bolts on Frankie’s neck sparked as the green-skinned girl smile wider. She took Aelita’s hand, and the two girls started to walk away, Aelita taking one last glance at the flier.


	6. Chapter 6

There’s always a certain ‘energy’ of airports. The hustle and bustle of people as they move quickly from station-to-station, eager friends and family welcoming back loved ones, and bright eyed tourists ready to make memories.  
“Oh thank _Ra_ we’re finally back,” Cleo groaned, stretching her limbs.

But currently there was just a group of exhausted teenagers arriving home.

“Did the flight take this long the last time we visited France?” Clawdeen asked with a yawn.

Frankie fished out her phone. “I think...” She said, squinting at the screen, “Gosh, is it really 2 in the morning?”

“Alright who votes to crash until our parents get here?” Clawdeen asked. She didn’t even need to get a response as the group was already claiming chairs and nodding off.

Aelita rubbed her eyes as she claimed a chair slightly further away from the group. Compared to the others’ large suitcases and carry-on luggage, all Aelita had was her old backpack with borrowed clothing she wasn’t sure even fit her. She hugged her backpack tightly as Frankie took the chair next to her. 

“What are you doing all the way over here?” Frankie asked as she sat down.

“I just… Don’t really have the energy to interact with a lot of people right now,” Aelita said nervously.

“I don’t think you have to worry about anyone being really chatty,” She said with a soft chuckle looking over at her jet lagged friends. She grabbed Aelita’s hand. “Hey, I know this is a big change for you, leaving everything behind, but we’re here for you okay?” She said with a soft smile.

Aelita looked a Frankie for a second. “Thank you, that means a lot to hear-”

“CLEO!” A shrill voice shouted, piercing the air. 

Cleo groaned. “I’m coming Nefera…” She said, grabbing her bags and standing up, “Until tomorrow, ta-ta!”

“HURRY UP CLEO!”

“I’M COMING!” 

Aelita watched confused as Cleo walked towards a woman that looked similar to her. Even if they couldn’t hear them, it was clear to all the two where bickering. “Who is-”

“Nefera. Cleo’s older sister,” Frankie explained, a slight disdain in her voice.

“Oh…” Aelita looked at the spot the two sisters had once been. “Is that-”

“Totally normal for them,” Frankie said with a sigh, “ _Hopefully_ , you won’t have to interact with Nefera since she isn’t to big of a fan of all of us…”

“Class differences?”

Clawdeen snickered catching both girl’s attention. “That’s _one_ item on a long list,” She said stretching, “Think she’s still pissed at us for what happened in New York?”

“What happened in New York?” Aelita asked.

“It’s a long story…” Frankie said with a wince.

A woman with long, black hair walking up to the group caught Aelita’s eye. “Who- Who is that?” She asked, her grip on the bag tightened, as if she were preparing to run at a moments notice.

Frankie followed Aelita’s gaze. Both her eyes and bolts light up. “Mrs. Jekyll!” She said, rushing out of her seat to give the woman a hug with the other girls giving the woman tired ‘hellos’.

“How was France?” Mrs. Jekyll asked as Frankie broke the hug.

“It was-” Lagoona let out a loud yawn. “-Eventful,” She said giving a small smile in Aelita’s direction.

Mrs. Jekyll looked at Aelita who was still posed to run. “I can see,” She said with a light chuckle, “Aelita Stones I presume. My name is Sydney Jekyll, you’ll be staying with my family while you attend Monster High.”

Aelita nervously looked at the woman, then at Frankie. “It’s nice to meet you,” She said cautiously, forcing her body to relax.

Mrs. Jekyll looked at Aelita’s backpack, still clutched tightly in the younger girl’s hands. “Is that all?” She asked.

Aelita hugged her backpack. “Everything else was lost by the airline,” She lied.

Mrs. Jekyll looked at her with a funny expression. “Well, let’s get you loaded up in the car...” She said. The older woman turned to look at Frankie. “Tell your parents I said hi for me okay?”

Aelita got out of her seat, giving one last glance to the other girls as she followed Mrs. Jekyll out to the parking lot.

They came to a white SUV, which Mrs. Jekyll climbed into the driver’s side. Aelita followed suit by hopping into the passenger’s side. She leaned back into the seat, closing her eyes as the cars engine hummed to life in the background.

 

Aelita blinked her eyes open, rubbing away sleep. Instead of lying in the overstuffed passenger’s seat, she was now in a twin sized bed in a mostly bare room with only a dresser and a desk with a chair. She sat up, seeing her backpack sitting on the floor beside the bed. She threw off a heavy, knitted blanket as she climbed out of the bed. She swiftly changed out of the clothes she had been wearing since the computers reactivation and into a plain tank top was slightly too big for her, and a pair of tight fitting, multicolored leggings. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to neaten it up the best she could. She left her room, quietly closing her door and walking down stairs, a skill she had mastered from sneaking out during many late-night Xana attacks.

She made her way downstairs, entering the living room. As she entered she noticed a black haired boy sitting on a couch. He noticed Aelita walking into the room, turning around to face her. "Uh, hi there. Are you Aelita?"

Aelita nodded. "Yes... You must be…"

He stood up, reaching out his hand for a shake. "I'm Jackson. You met my mom last night..."

"Oh... Is it just us?" Aelita asked, noting the empty feeling of the house.  
"Uh, yeah. My dad works nights so he normally sleeps in, and my mom is at work right now," Jackson explained sitting back down. "So you met Frankie huh?" he asked as Aelita joined him on the couch.

"Is that a bad thing?" She asked timidly.

Jackson shook his head. "Well, there isn't a reason for a human to transfer to an all monster school, let alone one in another country. The only real logical assumption is that you met Frankie and she convinced you to come to Monster High."

"Oh..." Aelita looked at her lap.

"But it's not a bad thing!" Jackson said frantically, "It'll be nice having another human at the school actually."

"I'm guessing a place called 'Monster High' wouldn't have a large human student base," Aelita said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Jackson chuckled. "Yeah... It can be pretty tough but a lot of people are learning to at least tolerate me in some way." He looked at Aelita. "But you should have an easier time."

"Why is that?" Aelita asked.

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck. "Well. It's sort of an unspoken rule of Monster High to never go after anyone Frankie either befriends or brings back with her after one of her adventures. By messing with them you risk upsetting Frankie, and by upsetting Frankie you end up getting the wrath of Lagoona, Clawdeen, Cleo, and about half of the student body, and no one is _that_ dumb. Not even my cousin," He explained, "By befriending Frankie you set up a security network for yourself."

"Oh... That's handy I guess..." Aelita had a feeling that Frankie had least a somewhat large friend group, but she didn't think it was _that_ big. "So... Why do you go there? It sounds like it would be really hard for you to be accepted without this 'security net'."

Jackson sighed. "Because my cousin Heath goes there..." He groaned. "My parents thought it would be easier for me if we went to the same school, and for another reason..."

Aelita looked at him curiously.

"I have a... _thing..._ " He said nervously.

"A _thing?_ "

Jackson shifted in his seat. "It's something I get from my mom's side. It's complicated to explain," He said, "But basically it does something to me and I'm not really 'in control' of my body…"

"Well..." Aelita said trying to change the subject, "How about you tell me more about what I can expect from Monster High?"

“Well, don’t use the water fountain on the second floor near the girl’s bathroom,” He said strictly, “It’s been broken for over a year and I doubt they will _ever_ fix it at this point...”

“Doesn’t every school have _that_ fountain?” Aelita snickered.

Jackson chuckled. “I guess so.” He looked at Aelita. “You know you’re really easy to talk to-”

_“-It’s been a while since I’ve had someone-”_

“-I really connect with.”

Aelita sat frozen in her seat. Her heart fluttered in her chest.  _J-Jeremie?_ She thought.

_“I get that feeling too,” She said with a smile. Even though the two where separated, she still felt a strong connection._

She felt a hand on her shoulder, jolting her back to reality. “Aelita? Are you okay?” Jackson asked, looking at her concerned.

“I’m fine,” She lied. “You just remind me of someone…”

“I hope they’re a friend of yours,” He joked pitifully.

Aelita stayed silent.

He shifted in his seat. “So… What was your school like?” He asked, looking at her with an awkward smile.

“It- It was fine...”

_“What is school going to be like?” She asked as the group guided her. The city as they called it felt so vast compared to the sectors of Lyoko._

_Jeremie smiled. “Well, you’ll be given a list with all of your classes.-”_

“Aelita?”

 _“No Aelita, it’s_ ** _our_** _job...” He gently took her hand._

Tears trickled down from her eyes.

Jackson grabbed her shoulder. “Aelita w-what’s wrong?”

_-“I WISH I NEVER TURNED ON THE SUPERCOMPUTER!” he screamed, his knuckles growing white._

Aelita shoved Jackson off of her, tears pouring heavier and heavier as she raced off the couch. Jackson caught her wrist forcing her to stop.

“Aelita?” He asked desperately, “Did-did I say something wrong?”

“No! It’s just-”

_-She watched in horror from the safety of the tower. They where gone. All of them._

She yanked her arm free. Anything she tried to say kept getting caught in her throat.

“Hey… I get it,” Jackson said softly.

Aelita looked up at him.

Jackson sat down. “Going to a new school, starting all over, and as big of a heart Frankie has, I don’t think she understands how overwhelming it can get.”

Aelita stayed quiet. “It’s not just that,” She said softly, “You wouldn’t understand...”

“Maybe I can try…” Jackson said, giving a weak smile.

Aelita sat next to Jackson, her body stiff and rigid. “Jackson… I did something horrible. Something I can never forgive myself for…” she clenched her fists, feeling her nails digging into her palm. “It’s only a matter of time before Frankie and her friends realize what I bring with me...”

Jackson stayed quiet. “I get it...” He said softly, not looking at her.

Aelita looked at him puzzled.

“That _thing_ I told you about… His name is Holt.” Jackson leaned back into the couch. “For whatever reason, when I hear loud music I turn into _him._ I completely blackout and he takes over. Everyone loves him and I don’t get why.” Jackson looked at the ceiling. “He’s everything I hate about myself. But everyone at Monster High would prefer Holt over Jackson any day.”

“I really like Jackson right now.”

Jackson looked at her with a sad smile. “You’re only saying that because you haven’t met Holt yet…”

“Well maybe it won’t change when I meet him...” She gave a soft smile.

Jackson returned the smile. “Hey, if you want… If you need some school supplies, I know of a store close that sells some. If you want to go pick some up that is...”

Aelita looked at him. She smiled. “Yes. Most of my things were lost by the airline so I don’t really have much for school supplies.”

Jackson pull out his cellphone. “Well if we leave now we can maybe catch a bus so we don’t have to walk all the way,” He said getting up. Aelita followed suit, allowing Jackson to guide her out the door.


End file.
